This is for all the hardcore Matrix fans out there...do you think it has to do with religion? The Wachowski's haven't elaborated on their meaning for the films....they thought it best for people to find their own meaning. So I am asking you.....what do you think they mean?
Freed minds that aren't too dependent on the system to see the world as it truly is...people who are frightened of the man-made machines that have enslaved humans...people who either fight or run from normal people who are taken over by a program, a program made to ensure the saftey of the matrix... I don't know, It might... "Within the corridors of my mind, a perfect solace i always find. Beautiful sleep i summon thee to break my chains and set me free." " Finally I awake from my slumber of ignorance. The light still hurts my eyes but at least I can see. the shadows slink back to their homes underneath the rocks. " "Though living in a dream is living a life without risk, in reality, it is not really living at all" - from poems I've written
Alright Brendan now your just showing off. But I do agree with you. I would equate the Matrix as Christianity......a system firmly in place to keep humans under control. Most Christians will get mad when you threaten their system, hence the qoute, "...so hopelessly inurd, so dependent on the system that they will fight to defend it." -Morpheus
Alright Brendan now your just showing off. But I do agree with you. I would equate the Matrix as Christianity......a system firmly in place to keep humans under control. Most Christians will get mad when you threaten their system, hence the qoute, "...so hopelessly inurd, so dependent on the system that they will fight to defend it." -Morpheus
Hey, man, I never said anything about Christianity (though a lot of Christians do fight mindlessly for something they don't fully understand). The matrix can be anything, in my opinion. *cough* Mindless Nationalism *cough* But to be fair to the Christians, anyone can be enslaved by the Matrix. All religions have followers who don't understand the religion, they just need the emotional satisfaction that religions supply. People everywhere waste their life being caught up in capitalistic propoganda ("...we work jobs we hate to buy shit we don't need..." - The Fight Club). But without these matrices, think of how many people would be commiting suicide or rioting because they are too weak to find a purpose for themselves. I have written a song about this, called Augustnosotron, but since I don't want to show off, you don't get to see it.
The Matrix has everything and nothing to do with Christianity, Religion. The Matrix is Man’s Living Hell, Hell on Earth. In the Matrix Man is physically alive but is dead in Spirit, he is not animated. In the Matrix Man is one of the Living, walking, Dead. The Matrix is about Man returning to Paradise. The Return to Paradise is a Spiritual journey, a reanimation, resurrection, to return, rise, from the dead, a Deep Sleep, to return from the Grave. The Matrix is Man himself, a voice crying in the Wilderness, World of Illusion, dead in Spirit, not animated. Having turned inward to the imagination searching for beauty we find only Ugliness, a World of Illusion, worshiping, submitting to the Reality of Illusion, Graven Images of Reality. The Matrix is Man’s worst case scenario, catatonia, Man’s, Living Hell, World of Reality, Illusion.
I see the 'matrix' as a metaphor for systematic thinking of all kinds. It is the modern equavalent of Plato's cave. (You can no more see beyond the matrix than you can the cave). It requires a non-systematic piece of thinking to see what casts the shadows on the walls that we call the phenomenal world. The film exploits the fact that we do not know whether materialism or idealism is true. We do not know this because we cannot see out of the matrix/cave. This is because all formally systematic explanations of existence are axiomatic. Ultimately they are therefore entirely self-referential or cannot prove their axioms, and thus by definition, a priori, and ex hypothesis cannot explain what is really real (what lies beyond the cave). Plato saw this clearly and the Matrix exploits the problem. It is also what non-dual philosophy asserts. (It also relates directly to the incompleteness theorems, the Quine-Duhem thesis, the liars paradox, the problem of qualities, the known inadequacy of all dual ontologies etc etc etc). It is a problem for theism and scientism equally. Thousands of yeas after Plato and the problem remains untouched by Western science and philosophy. I find this a little pathetic, but then few people think about their own metaphysical pardigms anymore. It's easier to simply make assumptions. It's great that the Matrix has drawn attention to the uncertainty of the underlying assumptions (axioms) of the scientific and religious hypotheses. Always happy to argue about this one. Regards Canute
-question: Did ideas from Buddhism influence you in making the film? -WachowskiBros: Yes. There's something uniquely interesting about Buddhism and mathematics, particularly about quantum physics, and where they meet. That has fascinated us for a long time. -question: Have you ever been told that the Matrix has Gnostic overtones? -WachowskiBros: Do you consider that to be a good thing? -question: Your movie has many and varied connections to myths and philosophies, Judeo-Christian, Egyptian, Arthurian, and Platonic, just to name those I've noticed. How much of that was intentional? -WachowskiBros: All of it. -question: There are quite a few hidden messages in the movie that I notice the more I watch it. Can you tell me about how many there are? -WachowskiBros: There are more than you'll ever know. Matrix Virtual Theatre
I think that the Wachowski brothers simply recognize the power of imagery from and allusion to various belief systems. If you've read the Philosophy of the Matrix or know something about Western philosophy/Eastern thought/world religions/world mythology, then you can recognize that practically every name, event, character,advent, occurance, plot point or visual icon is a reference to or representation of something from some major religion/mythology/belief system. Which is pretty neat...George Lucas did the same thing with the original Star Wars. The Matrix is contemporary and terrestrial, however, so the references are more blatant.
